Early to Bet
Early to Bet is a 1951 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson. Plot Some examples of what the Gambling Bug can do: # A man has eaten dinner and been presented with the bill. However, he wants to bet the waiter Luigi "double or nothing" on a coin flip for the bill. Luigi begs him to just pay the bill and leave. # Two men are sitting at a bar watching a fly buzz around their beer mugs. One fellow bets the other five dollars that the fly will land on his beer mug first, to which the other guy says "It's a bet!" # A man puts a coin in a casino slot machine. He watches the wheels spin around until three oranges appear. He jumps for joy until the payout from the machine is actually three oranges instead of the jackpot. He gets enraged and starts punching the slot machine. The bug goes on vacation hoping to leave his victims alone today. Suddenly, he sees a dog asking a black and white cat if he'd like to play Gin Rummy for Penalties. The cat disagrees and says he's through playing cards with the dog. The Gambling Bug can not over-power his instincts then decides to bite the cat's ear. All of a sudden, the cat goes berserk and starts repeating "Deal the cards, deal the cards, deal the cards" to the dog. He promptly loses. The cat spins the Wheel of Penalties, and his penalty is Penalty #14: "The Gesundheit". He is forced to blow bubble gum as the dog puts sneezing powder in his nose, causing him to sneeze and the bubble gum covers him. The cat then refuses to play cards with the dog again, but the bug is not giving up, so he bites the cat's ear once more. The cat loses yet again, and gets penalty #75 on the wheel: "The William Tell". The penalty is that the dog shoots a toilet plunger at the apple on the cats head, but the dog aims it into the cat's face. This time the cat swears off gambling for sure, but the bug bites him again. The same thing happens, the cat loses, and receives penalty #36 on the wheel, appropriately christened "Roll out the Barrel". The penalty is to roll out a barrel of gunpowder. The dog then puts a quick lit match on the gunpowder and the cat blows up and flies back to the wheel. While influenced with yet another bite, the cat is in bandages from all the injuries and asks to go again. The dog refuses saying, "You're too unlucky, cat. I'm quitting before you kill yerself!" The bug comes in and agrees to play one with the cat. He decides to cut for the highest card with the cat. The cat cuts a three of hearts, to which the gambling bug says, "Not so good, cat. Watch!" Proud of having a good chance at winning, he draws a two of diamonds. The cat wins and determines the punishment, the Post newspaper whack. Availability * (2003) DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc 4 (low-pitch) Other Appearances * The Gambling Bug makes a brief cameo at the basketball game in Space Jam. * The cat appeared in "A Fractured Leghorn", "It's Hummer Time", this short, and would make his final one later in 1951 in "Leghorn Swoggled", but was never given a name. Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts Category:Shorts Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson Category:1951 Category:Blue Ribbon reissues Category:Cartoons written by Warren Foster Category:Cartoons animated by Emery Hawkins Category:Cartoons animated by Charles McKimson Category:Cartoons with layouts by Cornett Wood Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Stan Freberg Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons that contain excerpts from "Powerhouse" Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer